OLCIS eNews – January 2025

Tuesday 28 January 2025

A Happy New Year to all readers!

Welcome to the January edition of Logistics UK’s Operator Licensing Compliance Information Service (OLCIS) e-news update. This document is a monthly round-up of transport news items sent out as part of your OLCIS subscription. Its objective is to keep you up to date with news affecting your commercial vehicle operation. To view previous editions and access your other subscription benefits, visit the dedicated OLCIS hub.

We welcome any comments and suggestions for new topics you would like to see included within OLCIS E-news.

Looking ahead in 2025

December 2024 – Record Keeping

The period drivers must be able to produce driver hour record sheets, manual records and printouts was extended to 56 days in the EU from 31 December 2024, which means that UK drivers travelling on international journeys will have to comply.

UK legislation is unaffected by this and the current UK requirements of providing the last 28 days of activity remain the same.

January 2025 – ADR Changes

In 2025, the international rules regarding the carriage of dangerous goods, ADR, receives its two-yearly update which came into force on the 1 January 2025.

Although operators can choose to follow either ADR 2023 or ADR 2025 until 30 June 2025, from this date ADR 2023 rules will cease to be recognised, and therefore operators will have to comply with ADR 2025.

January 2025 – Office of the Traffic Commissioner Digitalisation

The Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) has been working towards providing ‘digital by default’ processes for their services.

On 31 January, they will be withdrawing three forms relating to transport managers and surrendering an operator licence.  All changes made after this date will have to be made digitally on their VOL system.

Operators can contact the OTC for support using the online services on 02045518711  or [email protected] or alternatively contact the Member Advice Centre who are familiarised in the use of VOL and may be able to help.

February 2025 – Driver CPC reform

Following on from changes implemented in December 2024, there is also a new ‘return to professional driving’ module to be introduced from 1 February 2025, which after completion allows a driver to drive professionally immediately. They will then have 12 months to complete a further 28 hours training to make up the remaining hours.

April 2025 – Vehicle tax for electric, zero or low emission vehicles

From 1 April 2025, registered keepers of electric, zero or low emission vans will need to pay vehicle tax in the same way as registered keepers of petrol and diesel vehicles. This change will apply to both new and existing vehicles, but vehicles exceeding 3.5t, including vans plated at 4.25t, are not affected by this change and will continue to be exempt from vehicle excise duty.

April 2025 – DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness (GTMR) update

1 April will see further updates to DVSA’s Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness.

Section 5.3a of the current Guide, updated in November 2024, details the main changes to brake testing requirements that will come into effect from 1 April 2025. Logistics UK members can also listen to our January briefing, which includes detailed coverage on the changes to the GTMR from April 2025, the link to which can be found here.

May 2025 – DVS Phase 2 Grace period ends

The grace period for Transport for London’s (TfL) Direct Vision Standard will come to an end this year on 4 May 2025.

Announced in September 2024 following pressure from Logistics UK and others, Transport for London developed a process for operators making bulk applications for more than 100 vehicles.

With the grace period, to have qualified, your eligible vehicles must have been registered with TfL, including supplying evidence that an equipment installation appointment had been made, before 28 October. So, if you hadn’t applied before 28 October, the grace period does not apply.

August 2025 – Smart Tachograph 2 retrofit

The requirements of Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 provides a timeline for implementation of smart tachograph 2 and means that UK vehicles crossing borders will need to have the newer devices installed. Following changes implemented on 31 December 2024, UK vehicles currently equipped with smart tachograph 1 devices, crossing borders on international journeys, will need to have them removed and replaced with smart tachograph 2 devices from no later than 19 August 2025.

Top questions this month at the Members Advice Centre     

Q) How do I establish safety inspection frequencies for our vehicles?

A) Within DVSA’s Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, there is a table showing weekly increments, anticipated mileages and allowing for different types of work and operating conditions. But the table is only a guide; you must monitor the intervals to ensure that the vehicle is safe for use on the road.

Q) We operate a large fleet of vehicles from cars to goods vehicles that come under operator licensing. Our company policy is that driver walk around checks are carried by all drivers of any company vehicles whether they are on operator licence or not. If we stop carrying out walk around checks on all our vehicles and just carry the checks out on operator licenced vehicles would this raise any issues?

A) The driver daily walk around checks form part of your maintenance system. They are not as in depth as the planned safety inspections but are put in place to ensure to the best of the driver’s knowledge when he or she takes a vehicle out on the road it is in a safe and roadworthy condition. Any defects found by the driver that would affect the roadworthiness of the vehicle ie worn tyres, defective lights etc. can be spotted and rectified before the vehicle is used on the public highway.

Driver daily walk around checks are a requirement for vehicles operated under operator licensing (as a means of ensuring they are in a roadworthy condition), but there is an expectation that operator licence holders who use vehicles which are out of scope for operator licencing should have an appropriate maintenance regime in place to ensure the roadworthiness of these vehicles, and failure to maintain out of scope vehicles may also be taken into consideration by the Traffic Commissioner. You have a duty to ensure all your vehicles used on a public highway are in a safe and roadworthy condition, and daily walk around checks are a proven method of helping to comply with this requirement.

Q) Are we allowed to keep our tachograph, working time and vehicle maintenance records at a location other than the operating centre?

A) Yes. There is no place specified in the regulations or operator’s licence conditions for these records to be kept. However, you must be able to produce such records for any enforcement officer within a reasonable amount of time. Tachograph charts must be retained for at least 12 months, or two years if they are also used as working time records, and vehicle maintenance records for at least 15 months.

Compliance news: around the courts

Background

The operator held a restricted goods licence authorising the use of one vehicle. There are two directors on the licence.

DVSA reports had been referred to the Traffic Commissioner for the following reasons which have been summarised below:

• The Vehicle Examiner on duty was in an unmarked car on the motorway. They became aware of a 7.5t goods vehicle on the same carriageway. It was exceeding the goods vehicle speed limit and so the limited speed. The Vehicle Examiner matched the speed with the truck and, using both the vehicle’s speedometer and the GPS reading, the estimated speed of the vehicle was 70 mph.
• The same Vehicle Examiner along with another colleague encountered the same vehicle again on a separate occasion. As the Vehicle Examiners were in a marked stopping vehicle they pulled the 7.5t vehicle over to the nearest point of safety. It was identified that the speed limiter and tachograph seal on the gearbox had been broken and the wiring disconnected. Aside from the broken calibration seal, there was no damage indicating that the wiring had been disconnected intentionally.
• The vehicle was not specified on any licence and the driver was one of the directors.
• Along with the defective speed limiter, the vehicle had several other defects. The exhaust system was cracked and broken to the extent that fumes were likely to enter the cab. The extent of the failure also rendered the exhaust brake inoperative. The offside front tyre had a deep cut with cords exposed. Two of the driver’s seat bolts were loose with the seat belt attached to the insecure seat base and in use. One of the passenger seat bolts was loose with the seatbelt in use.

This encounter consequently ensured a visit by DVSA.

A Vehicle Examiner attended the listed operating centre. It was a food establishment that was open and trading, and the director confirmed that no trucks parked in the car park. The maintenance investigation identified many serious shortcomings:

• 60% of inspections had no brake performance test.
• 80% of inspections had driver reportable defects.
• 60% of inspections were not carried out on time according to the operator licence undertakings.
• One of the directors confirmed they did not carry out any walk around checks on the vehicle and there was no wheel security policy in place.

The Vehicle Examiner concluded that the responsible person had no control over the transport operation. The vehicle was not specified on the licence and an unauthorised operating centre was in use.

The operator responded to the reports within the timeframe given to them by the Traffic Commissioner. They had engaged the services of a transport consultant, the vehicle was specified on the licence and an application for the correct operating centre was lodged.

The condition of the vehicle caused the Traffic Commissioner to call the operator to a public inquiry.

Prior to the hearing, the Traffic Commissioner was made aware of a conviction and added this additional matter to the public inquiry as this had not been declared at application.

Evidence

The director let the Traffic Commissioner know that they had not told them of this conviction on application because they did not think it was relevant. The Traffic Commissioner asked whether anyone named on their licence had a conviction the Traffic Commissioner should know about and that the Statutory Guidance sets out the specific convictions that must be declared.

This continued with the director informing the Traffic Commissioner that they did not know that the vehicle’s road speed limiter was not working, to which the Traffic Commissioner did not accept. The speedometer was not working, the operator had taken no steps to correct it and the operator continued to tell the Traffic Commissioner that they did not notice that they were passing other heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) with ease. The Traffic Commissioner pointed out that HGVs are required to be restricted to 56 mph (90kph), so when one overtakes another, it generally takes some considerable time. The Traffic Commissioner continued that the operator’s argument was not realistic when made by an experienced HGV driver, or any driver for that matter. The driver/director was caught speeding on the motorway within that year also, so the Traffic Commissioner could not see why the driver wouldn’t want the speedometer to be working. The Traffic Commissioner stated that they found it far more likely the operator was fully aware the speed limiter was not working, and was unhappy that the operator, when given the opportunity to address this issue directly, lied.

When the operator’s vehicle was encountered by DVSA, it was out of MOT was not specified on the operator’s licence, and the road speed limiter was disconnected. The tyre which is fitted to the offside front, the one the driver passes every time they get in or out of his vehicle, had a deep cut to the extent that cords were exposed. Two seats were insecure with the seat belts mounted to them and in use. The exhaust downpipe was snapped with fumes likely to enter the cab. The exhaust brake was inoperative so not only was the vehicle capable of, and seen, exceeding its restricted speed by 25%, but a part of the braking system was also defective, and the emissions malfunction lamp was illuminated on the dashboard. The director maintained that they were unaware of any of those defects.

Review of the compliance documents provided for the hearing shows that weaknesses persisted until just prior to the hearing. Three months after the DVSA investigation, the vehicle was presented for a safety inspection, however the vehicle had no working rear brake lights, a reverse light not working, nearside side light not working and an insecure nearside side repeater. There was no corresponding driver defect report. The director/driver told the Traffic Commissioner that they had reported a defective brake light to the maintenance provider and arranged for it to be fixed at the next inspection.

Summing up

The Traffic Commissioner asked themselves whether this is a company they could trust to be compliant in the future, with the director/driver involved, they believed this would not be the case.

The Traffic Commissioner concluded that the licence was REVOKED.